By far the number one question I get asked about Bible journaling is what supplies I use.
About a year ago I put out a supplies post with a list of a whole bunch of supplies that are great and safe to use for Bible journaling. CHECK OUT THAT SUPPLIES POST HERE. But I realized that I really tend to go back to the same eight supplies for 99% of my Bible journaling pages.
So today I figured I would go over those eight supplies that I love so much and would recommend to anyone- whether an experienced Bible journaler or someone just starting.
The Supplies:
*This article contains affiliate links. CLICK HERE for my full disclosure*
- A Journaling Bible- See Post: Choosing A Journaling Bible to find many of the available options. My personal Favorite Bibles are the ESV Double Column, ESV Interleaved, and NIV Journal The Word.
- Kurretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Set
- Apple Barrel Acrylic Paints
- Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen
- Micron Pens
- Unibal Signo Gel Pen
- Paint Brushes– I don’t use any specific brand, I get synthetic brushes in value packs from the craft store
- Craft Heat Gun
Honorable Mentions:
Quick Links To Helpful Posts:
- Choosing A Journaling Bible
- A full list of great Bible journaling Supplies
- Faux Calligraphy- 3 Simple Steps To Beautiful Hand-Lettering
- Brush Pen Calligraphy Basics
- Brush Pen Calligraphy- Capital Letters
- Bounce Lettering The Easy Way- A Brush Pen Calligraphy Tutorial
- 10 Easy Hand Lettering Styles
- How To Add Shadows To Your Lettering To Make It POP
To find more about the supplies and why I recomend them, you can watch the video below, or just keep reading!
Why I Love These Eight Supplies
Budget Friendly
Now, everyone has their own Bible journaling and art style. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I use lots of paints and tend to stay away from kits, printables, stamps, sticker, and other scrapbook-style materials that are common in the Bible journaling community.
While I think those types of pages are beautiful, and I am SO NOT HATING on them, I find that buying stamps, stickers, kits, etc. can really add up financially! As a young military spouse (now with a baby on the way) I just don’t have the budget to be spending money on new Bible journaling supplies each month. (Though I’ll admit, I have a weakness for buying new Bibles 😉 .)
With these eight supplies (and some art practice), I can create all kinds of beautiful Bible journaling pages without breaking the bank!
Versatility
The other reason that I love these supplies is that with them I can create virtually anything I dream up! You can use them to create anything from simple backgrounds and
Though I may have to put more effort into learning new art techniques, I find that these supplies allow me to illustrate my verses in any way and with my own style!
My Eight Most Recommended Bible Journaling Supplies
If you are just starting out with Bible journaling and are wondering what supplies you need, (Or are an experienced journaler looking for recommendations,) these supplies will be the perfect foundation!
I believe any Bible journaler, no matter their art style, should have these eight supplies- and THEY WILL USE THEM.
*This article contains affiliate links. CLICK HERE for my full disclosure*
#1: A Journaling Bible
Bible journaling can absolutely be done with whatever Bible you already have and separate notebook/ sheet of paper, but if you would like to create art directly in your Bible, you will need a Journaling Bible.
A Journaling Bible, if you don’t know, is a Bible that has extra space to work in (usually in the form of a wide, 2″ margin) and slightly thicker paper that holds up better to art supplies. Some journaling Bibles even have pre-printed illustrations that you can color or paint.
There are a TON of different journaling Bibles on the market now and I have a post that goes over the majority of options
SEE POST- Choosing A Journaling Bible
My personal favorite Journaling Bibles are the ESV Double Column, ESV Interleaved (this one has full blank pages for every other page), and the NIV Journal The Word.
#2: Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Set
Watercolors are a great Bible journaling tool to have because they can create everything from beautiful and easy backgrounds to intricate illustrations.
If you don’t mind going over the scripture text, you can still read the text underneath watercolors, provided you apply a thin layer.
Not all watercolors are created alike, however. While the majority of watercolor brands do not bleed through an unprepared page, some will bleed. Some brands are also not as pigmented as others, and some leave gritty textures. Different brands also vary hugely in price.
My personal favorite watercolor set, for Bible journaling and other art purposes, is the Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Set.
It comes with either 24 or 36 colors and is a very reasonable price. The colors are super pigmented and vibrant, they are smooth, and they last a very long time. (I have had my set for over two years and with very heavy use I am just now running out of a couple colors.)
I also have not personally had one single issue of bleed through in any of my journaling Bibles other than the Illustrating Bible* – And that is with an unprepared (non-gessoed) page!
*The Illustrating Bible is the one Journaling Bible I have found to not take well to watercolors.
#3: Acrylic Paints
I find that a lot of Bible journalers I talk to are intimidated to use acrylic in their Bible, but you shouldn’t be!
Acrylics are great because they do not bleed through at all, and they create a protective layer on your page (just as gesso does- more on gesso below), so you can use all kinds of inks, markers, etc. on top of it without those materials bleeding through as well.
They are also generally easy to use! They are naturally opaque depending on the color, but they can also be watered down. However, b
The great thing is that any acrylic paints will work for Bible journaling! None of them, to my knowledge, will bleed through and un-prepared Journaling Bible page.
My favorite brand of acrylics for Bible journaling are Apple Barrel Acrylic Paints.
I usually get mine from
I love the Apple Barrel acrylics because they are super cheap (about 50cents- $1 a tube) and they come in a huge variety of colors, but are also mixable. They are more liquid than most other acrylics, which to me, makes them easier to use on the thin Bible paper.
I will say that the Apple Barrels are not the best for other art purposes as they are not super pigmented, and their viscosity doesn’t work as well on surfaces like canvas.
*One last thing I would like to note about acrylics is that, if you can, try to find acrylics that are matte or satin. Acrylics that have a glossy finish can sometimes cause the finished pages in your Bible to stick together. I have always been able to pull the pages back apart easily and with no damage, but I have had some people complain that they don’t like the “stickiness” of acrylics.*
#4 Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen
The Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens are by far my most used pen for Bible journaling.
They have a bendable felt tip that makes it so that when you apply heavy pressure to the tip you get a thick line, and when you apply a small amount of pressure you get a thin line. This allows you to create brush calligraphy and many other hand-lettering styles.
These pens also do not bleed through an unprepared page (though you will get some ghosting or shadowing on the backside), and they are waterproof! So you can use them and then put watercolors on top of them without the ink smearing or bleeding.
They come in a hard and soft tip, which essentially work the same way- I use the two types interchangeably.
Here are my tutorials on hand-lettering using a brush pen (they each include free printables!):
- Brush Pen Calligraphy Basics
- Bounce Calligraphy Tutorial
- 10 Easy Hand-Lettering Styles
- Brush Pen Calligraphy- Capital Letters
#5 Micron Pens
Micron pens are a great all-around pen for Bible journaling. They are perfect for notetaking, line-drawing, underlining, tracing, outlining, and hand-lettering.
I use these pens all the time for Bible art journaling, and I also use them in my study Bible to take notes!
They are great because they do not bleed through an unprepared page and are waterproof as well!
They come in different tip sizes and are often sold in variety packs, which I recommend purchasing.
They do have a couple downfalls: They are fairly pricey, usually averaging $3-$4 per pen, and they do tend to dry out quickly (so be sure to cap them right away when not in use, and I like to store them upside down).
Microns are also great for creating faux-calligraphy!
SEE POST: Faux Calligraphy- 3 Simple Steps To Beautiful Hand-Lettering.
#6 Unibal Signo Gel Pen
I love a good gel pen! Gel pens are great for Bible journaling because they do not bleed through at all. I love to use gel pens to add shadows or highlights to my hand-lettering, which really makes my lettering POP.
They are particularly great to use on top of darker backgrounds.
I do find that a ton of gel pens brands are very finicky and can be hard to get an even flow of ink. I find that the Unibal Signo Gel Pens are the least finicky and flow very well.
I particularly like THIS pack of Unibal Signos that comes with a variety of pretty pastel colors (including white, which I use most often).
SEE POST: Adding Shadows To Make Your Lettering POP
#7 Paintbrushes
I get asked all the time what brand of paintbrushes I use, but I really don’t stick to any particular brand!
I buy all my brushes in the variety packs that can be found at the craft store or online (I like this set from Amazon). The only things I look for
I hear that having high-quality brushes makes a big difference, but I feel that for Bible journaling purposes, any brushes work! So just pick ones that look good and fit in your budget!
#8 Craft Heat Gun
Now this item is really not a necessity, especially when just beginning, but I will say that this is the one supply that I use for EVERY SINGLE ONE of my Bible journaling pages.
A craft heat gun is typically used for embossing, but it is also a great way to dry Bible journaling pages quickly!
You could use a hairdryer in the same way; but hairdryers push a lot of air, which, particularly for watercolors, can cause water spots to lose their shape. The heat gun, on the other hand, doesn’t blow much air at all, and it gets hotter than a hairdryer.
So, if you are anything like me, who likes to get pages done in one sitting and is too impatient to let it air dry, you should look into getting a heat gun! I think it is well worth the $20 or so!
Honorable Mentions
Uni Posca Paint Pens
I love using Uni Posca Paint Pens, as they create great opaque lines really easily. They write smoothly as well. However, they do bleed through an unprepared page, so I didn’t include them in my top list.
I do still use them all the time though on top of acrylics. (As mentioned earlier, acrylics act as a barrier for other supplies, so the paint pens to do bleed through if used on top of acrylics.) They come in a few
If you saw my tutorial on how to paint an Acrylic Lightning Storm, I used the white Uni Posca to paint the lightning and the lettering! It turned out so beautifully!
Art Basics Gesso
Gesso is super popular in the Bible journaling community so I feel that I have to mention it.
It is basically a type of acrylic, most commonly found in clear and white, that is used to prep Bible journaling pages (or canvases and other surfaces). When you use gesso to prepare the Bible page, you then are able to use most any art
I personally very very very rarely use gesso, as I don’t like the way other supplies act on top of it, and I don’t like taking the time to prep my page.- Hence why the only paints and pens I use, as mentioned in the top eight, are only ones that do not bleed through an unprepared page.
However, gesso has its benefits! I recommend Art Basics Clear Gesso. This one seems to leave the best texture, and because it’s clear, it allows for a wide variety of uses.
SEE POST: How To Prepare Your Page With Gesso
